Guessing before sunrise
by KeiiyakoMinto
Summary: Both Lettuce and Pai stayed indoors while the rest go out to the beach while on vacation. Playing a guessing game, Pai has Lettuce guessing till late at night. Watching the sunrise with a puzzle to solve for her, what will it bring? PxL oneshot -requested


Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew, nor its characters.

This oneshot is delicated to **XxLettieXPaixX**; here is your Lettuce and Pai oneshot! XD

Sorry if it took kinda long; hope Pai wasn't -if too much- OOC

Rated 'T'... Well... just to be safe -uhmm, yea..- Rating may change, or not.

Please do tell me how you think of it, and if any, ways or things you would like me to improve on! ;)

If there is a similar one somewhere (I doubt there's any since I haven't chance upon it..) I haven't read your story/oneshot.

Others are welcomed to tell me what they thought about it and can provide constructive criticism if there's any you want to point out!

-Ai-Chan

* * *

The mews were on vacation; the sun was up and shining as it's golden rays shone down on them.

The sea outside the villa they were going to stay in was sparkling blue, simply tempting to swim in. As Ryou had extended an invitation to the aliens as well, Kisshu, Tart and Pai were also present at the scene. They had booked the entire villa; so they could have it entirely to themselves.

After sorting out the rooms, the rest of them had eagerly made their way to the beach after what seems to be a very long time; for the sea was simply irresistable to swim in. After all, what beats playing in the sun, sand, and water and feeling the cool breeze come into contact with your skin?

However, Midorikawa Lettuce, due to a small cold she has gotten, had decided to stay back at the resort. Her cold would soon be gone, and the mew did not want to risk having the cold stay longer than planned. So after promising the rest that she would join them tomorrow for another session of day at the beach, Midorikawa Lettuce went on to explore further parts of the villa.

_I've got to see the kitchen!_

With little effort did the mew find the kitchen after searching for a few minutes.

And that was when she saw him; inside the kitchen.

Pai.

"P-Pai-san?" The green mew called out surprised, as he whirled around in her direction. He was pouring himself a cup of water as Lettuce interrupted him, and he replied, "Lettuce-san." Nodding in aknowlegement.

"Umm... Didn't you go with them, Pai-san?" Lettuce's light greenish emerald eyes darted to the purple-haired alien.

He smiled a little. "I'm not really the kind that plays at the beach." With a pause since he figured out that she was actually trying to start a proper conversation with him, he asked, "What about you?"

A broader smile lit the girl's face. "I've got a slight cold. So I'll only be joining them tomorrow.."

He nodded, taking a sip out of his water. "I'll go tidy my room first." He told Lettuce as she smiled, nodded, and watched him leave.

--

Pai sighed as he walked down the corridor to his room, the cup of water still in hand.

The green mew... Midorikawa Lettuce.

Maybe he shouldn't have left her there like that, alone?

But perhaps she didn't want him to keep her company?

All thoughts that were swimming in his head were pushed out of his mind as he opened his room door and began tidying the room.

After he was done however, he decided to walk around a bit, perhaps he could find her?

--

Midorikawa Lettuce sighed as she herself sat on the dining table, a paper and pencil in hand. She had nothing to do for now; no books to read whatsoever. She was just about to scribble something on the piece of paper before she noticed Pai entering the room.

"Pai-san!" Lettuce exclaimed, smiling up at him. She was sitting down and he was standing, looking at her in slight surprise.

A quick idea popped into the mew's mind at that time and she blurted out, "Would you like to play?" motioning to the piece of paper as he just looked at it hesitantly.

_Play?.._

"Ahh, but if you don't want to-" Lettuce fumbled on but stopped when he sat down beside her.

"I'll play." He answered, smiling slightly in politeness as Lettuce returned the gesture, a faint pink tint creeping up her face.

Silence filled the air for a second before Lettuce decided to break the awkwardness.

"Umm, okay, do you want to start first?" Lettuce asked, as she pushed the paper and pencil gently to the alien. "H-How about we play hangman for now? Do you know how to play?"

"Yes." His features softened as he took them from the green mew's hand. Thinking for a moment, with Lettuce waiting patiently, Pai scribbled on the piece of paper.

Six short lines with three spaces between each line; to keep them apart.

For the clue, the purple-haired alien had written: Colour.

Lettuce gave it a shot. "Umm," She looked down at the paper smiling. "Purple?"

_Purple..._

Pai nodded and wrote the alphabets down. This one was easy, and it was now Lettuce's turn. She waited quite shyly for Pai to hand her the pencil, without taking it from his grip.

--

Once she had it, she began scribbling down five short lines and the clue. 'Something I like'.

Pai studied her for a moment, thinking.

_Something she likes?_

_Surely there is more than one..._

_Green? No, it has six letters._

_Quiet? Five._

Pai looked at her, "Quiet?"

"U-Umm... No, Pai-san. You got it wrong." She said in reply as she drew one straight line across. One step to form the 'hang-man'.

_Wrong. What else could it be?_

Pai looked at Midorikawa Lettuce again as she blushed slightly when their eye-contact was fixed. "Ahh," She began smiling. "Do you need a clue?"

He shook his head. Then the answer came into his head by chance.

_Books? She seemed like the type to read._

"Books." He murmured, and she let out a small giggle.

"Correct."

The tension that once hung around in the air had most seemingly disappeared as Pai smiled more and Lettuce began to feel less nervous and shy. So, they continued with the simple game without hesitation.

--

It seemed that Lettuce's every clue was: "Something I like" and Pai always seemed to take that longer.

Finally, they ended the game as Lettuce gave a grateful smile to Pai for keeping her company.

He smiled and teleported out of the room as she sighed to herself contently.

--

"E-Eight short lines?" Lettuce muttered to herself worriedly when she found a piece of paper on her room door. "T-There's no clue..."

It was true. All the paper had stated was;

_Lettuce,_

_Pai. Another one to solve._

Together with eight short lines, seemingly waiting for alphabets to be placed on them.

--

It was past evening when the rest returned from the beach; their voices could be heard echoing through the villa once the door was opened.

"Pudding thinks that we should head to the beach again tomorrow Na No Da!"

In midst the commotion, Ichigo walked up to Lettuce's room with a smile, then knocked on the door.

_Knock, Knock._

Lettuce opened it.

"Lettuce, are you going to the beach with us tomorrow?"

Lettuce nodded. "My cold seems to be gone now Ichigo-san! Did you guys have fun?"

"Of course! You should've seen the sunset! It was so beautiful..." Momomiya Ichigo's face brightened up.

--

It was in the middle of the night that Pai woke up, throat parched. He needed a glass of water. Walking down the dark and empty corridors, he headed for the kitchen.

Lettuce was yawning as she made her way to the sink and washed a cup.

"...Lettuce-san?"

Lettuce jumped, dropped the cup in the sink, and immediately whipped around. Her light emerald orbs met his shiny jet black ones.

"P-P-Pai-san?" She stuttered nervously.

"I came to get a cup of water." He stated plainly as her lips curled up to a light and weak smile.

"Pai-san?"

"Yes?" Pai blinked. _Could she have figured it out already?_

"The answer... Is it 'computer'?"

Pai smiled ever so slightly and shook his head.

"Ahh, please tell me Pai-san!" The mew asked. "I couldn't think of anymore.."

"It's..." Pai hesitated. "Take a piece of paper." The alien instructed as the mew glanced nervously.

"A-Ah, but I don't have any..." She started to say before Pai exited (teleported) into his room, only to come out with a pen and a piece of paper.

Quickly, the purple-haired alien leaned the piece of paper against the door and put down eight short lines, before handing a curious Lettuce the piece of paper.

"The answer, Pai-san?"

"I'll tell you.. But what time is it now?"

The girl glanced at the clock, then replied. "About one o'clock, why?"

"Sunrise."

"Y-You want to see the sunrise, Pai-san?"

His orbs just gazed at her before nodding slowly.

Lettuce smiled wide. "Sunrises certainly are beautiful, Pai-san. I-I, can I go too? Well, t-that is, if you don't mind.." The mew blushed a little. "I haven't seen one in quite awhile..." _The sunrise most certainly be breathtaking... _Lettuce sighed in content. _How beautiful that would be when the world awakens as the sunlight seep into the blue, cold ocean in the morning!.._

On his cheeks were slight tints of red as he was most certainly taken aback by the green mew's request. "I don't mind." He said almost apathetically, while giving her a slight friendly smile to put her at ease.

Lettuce broke into a grin. "A-Ah," Her features brightened. "I'll meet you at the beach at five fifteen then!"

--

The waves were splashing, slamming onto rocky cliffs, but also creeping up the shoreline, only to retreat back down again into the vast dark blue beyond. Sky, adorned with twinkling stars that shone, some brighter than the others like little pieces of diamond jewelry hung up upon the curtain of darkness.

Already, upon the dark horizon, the colours were already beginning to change, lighter and filled with the brightness the sun was about to bring. Melting into the rest of the background, blending as though a form of art carvas painted by neighbouring colours, blending in harmoniously yet seemingly naturally.

Pai looked up into the sky, taking the silence all in. Of course, when he was working back in his spaceship without Kisshu and Taruto around, it was silent and peaceful, but this was different. It seemed to put him at ease naturally, the cool breeze blowing past him as he inhaled. Right now, he should be in bed, sleeping like most people would; but it didn't hurt to watch the wonders of nature once in a while right?

The alien's ears picked up footsteps; like someone was running on the path towards him. Turning around, he saw Lettuce huffing before she stopped before him.

"G-Gomen!" She apologized worriedly. "Was I late, Pai-san?"

"No, not really." Pai replied. "It doesn't matter, since I could teleport while you had to run here." He gave her a slight encouraging smile as Lettuce returned the gesture, then walked past him to sit on the sandy ground above. It was high land, as beyond it, the sand was already smoothly going lower, like a somewhat gently yet steep hillside.

Pai just stood beside her as silence surrounded them before the mew spoke up. "Do you want to sit, Pai-san?" She offered politely, looking up at him. Without protesting, nor stating objection, the alien sat down without hesitating.

"The answer," Lettuce's locks were fluttering behind her, as strands of green hair blew at her ears. "Do you want to tell me the answer now?"

Inwardly, Pai's heart thumped nervously. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea...

But she was waiting for a reply, and it was now or never. Gathering enough courage, the words formed at the alien's lips.

"It's.. I-L-O-"

The girl nodded cluelessly, urging him to continue.

"V-E-Y-O-U." He murmured the last few letters quickly, eyes fixed on her every second.

"Ahh, what's-" Then it dawned on her, as the mew quickly formed those words together in her head.

_I-L-O-V-E-Y-O-U_

_I-I love you!_

Her greenish orbs widened as a blush successfully crept up her face. "I-I-I, _love you_?" Lettuce stuttered, looking at him as he inwardly gulped at her response. The mew just sat there, stiff yet not knowing what to say.

_H-He..._

_What do I say? Do I admit my feelings to him too?_

At that moment, she turned her attention to the glimpse of sunlight that was creeping up the horizon, seemingly emerging from the sea of sparkling blue waters.

And there it was; rays of light beamed out slowly spreading across the darkened night sky as shades of light yellow could be seen blending into a tinge of orange, then pink, followed by a shadow of hot dark pink to red, a light wave of purple slowly darkening into violet. The dark blue was already scattering slowly but surely, disappearing until another night has come before the sun.

Sunrise.

Crickets could be heard chirping as the birds that stood perched on the branches of trees hummed a melodious morning tune for the world to awaken. Splashing could be heard by the waves churning as the water glittered a layer of shiny silver sparkle on the top layer, reflecting the light beams.

The two beings watched in speechless awe and comfort as the world around them slowly began to awaken. Soon, more birdsongs could be heard floating through the fresh morning air into their ears. It was like the key to open their hearts out to the world, and to bask in its natural miracles that happened everyday, but go unnoticed by most.

Lettuce let out a comforted sigh as she dreamily fixed her eyes beyond the blue horizon of the clear inviting waters that seem to beckon her to jump in and swim; soaking in its coolness.

Pai himself was watching it all unfold before him.

"It's simply beautiful, isn't it?" Lettuce commented as she felt the cool wind brushing past her face.

"Hai..."

"You know, I wouldn't have guessed i-if you hadn't tell me the answer, Pai-san; since I thought since there was only one spacing between the alphabets, I thought it was just one whole word in all!" She let out a small giggle at him.

"...It was?" He hadn't really thought about that when he gave her something to solve; it would probably be too easy then..

"Mhmm! B-But, I'm really glad Pai-san... I-I was beginning to think.."

_-That you didn't like me..._

Her inner mind finished in her heart as she smiled contently, eyes in a daze at the clear waters and sandy beach.

He turned his head sideways to look at her; Lettuce's fair yet beautiful image echanced as the sun rays reflected upon her seemingly flawless skin, long locks of her rich grassy emerald green hair fluttered behind her as her sleeves blew with the wind, fluttering a little at her slender arms.

He was however, oblivious to the blushing girl's hand brushing against his.

Lettuce took a great deal of courage, and letting out a breath of timidness, she wrapped a delicate hand around Pai's hand that lay in contact with the ground in the middle of them.

"Let's go, Pai-san. Do you want to go into the water?" She smiled at the male beside her as she lifted herself up.

Pai nodded, a smile forming on his lips as he too, picked himself up and placing a hand on her arm, teleported with the mew to the shoreline where the water could slightly swift past their feet if heaved a little higher.

The wind was slightly stronger here, as it blew past their individual purple and green locks. Sprays of sea breeze from the early morning lightly fazed their skin as the cool, yet crystal clear water splashed at their feet.

The water beyond the horizon where the sun was already almost fully up dazzled, as craws of seabirds could be heard greeting the new day.

* * *

I hoped you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it out and pondering for ideas -grins-

-Ai-Chan


End file.
